Monthly Archives: May 2009

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GLENDORA — A police officer responding to reports of a vicious Pit Bull Sunday ended up being bit by the animal, officials said.The incident occurred about 6:15 p.m. in the 700 block of Hunters Trail, Glendora police Lt. Brian Summers said.The officer suffered puncture wounds to his leg but is expected to be fine, he said.Residents called police to report a loose Pit Bull had children trapped inside a car, and when the officer arrived, the dog was running down the street, the lieutenant said.The dog ran ran back to it’s own yard, and when the officer tried to close the gate to contain it, he was bit, Summers said.The dog’s owner was cited for violating the leash law and having an unlicensed dog, he said. The Pit Bull was taken by animal control officials.

VALINDA — Officials released little information Sunday about the circumstances surrounding the shooting of a teenaged boy who was not expected to survive.Conflicting reports have surfaced as to whether the unidentified teenager was playing a game of Russian roulette when he was shot.Authorities have not been able to confirm that, and said Sunday they believe the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.The shooting was reported about 4:30 p.m. Friday in the 15700 block of Fairgrove Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Bill Brauberger said.Sheriff’s Sgt. Russell Boucher said officials were not seeking any suspects.Neighbor Gabriela Mendiola, 34, said the wounded boy was 17. She said he was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot at a party late last year.“He seemed like a really nice kid,” Mendiola said.The teenager was listed as “death imminent” at a local hospital following the shooting, Brauberger said. Authorities could not provide an update on his condition Sunday.

BALDWIN PARK — An 18-year-old was shot in the stomach Sunday in one of two unrelated shootings in the same area and time frame, authorities said.The shootings were reported just before 3 p.m. in the 14500 block of East Chevalier Avenue, and minutes later less than a mile away at Maine and Merced avenues, Baldwin Park police Sgt. Darryl Kosaka said.Despite the close proximity of the shootings, “There is no indication they are related,” Kosaka said.A Chevalier Avenue resident who asked his name not be published for fear of retaliation said he heard and saw part of the attack.“I thought it was fireworks, but then I heard the shells dropping,” he said.Both the resident and police said the shooter was a teenager or young man who opened fire several times on an occupied van as he passed by on a bicycle.The woman was inside the van, which was stopped along the side of the road, along with an unknown number of others, Kosaka said. No one else in the van was injured.The shooter ditched his bicycle and fled on foot through neighboring yards, police and witnesses said.Another young man came by just after the attack and picked up the bicycle, the witness said.The van sped away following the shooting, and the wounded woman showed up at a local hospital, where she was listed in stable condition, authorities and neighbors said.A nearby resident found a discarded handgun and turned it over to police, Kosaka said.A short time after the shooting, neighbors said a young man wearing a blue baseball cap was seen searching the area where the gun was found, possibly looking for the weapon.Kosaka said police searched for the man but he was not found.A further description of the gunman was not available.The shooting may have been gang related, Kosaka said.The shooting took place only a block away from the Baldwin Park police station, which is visible from the shooting scene.Another neighborhood resident, who also asked his name be withheld, said the shooting in the normally quiet neighborhood left him concerned.“You got to be alert,” he said. “You never know when they’re going to want to come back and retaliate because someone said something.”Minutes after the Chevalier Avenue shooting, shots were reported near Merced and Maine avenues, Kosaka said.While no one reported witnessing the shooting, a nearby home was struck by a bullet, he said.A car with bullet holes was found driving in the area, but the driver did not cooperate with police and claimed he had no idea that his car had been shot.Anyone with information on either shooting is asked to call Baldwin Park police.

SAN DIMAS — The sheriff’s bomb squad was sent to Via Verde Park Sunday to investigate a suspicious device, which was later determined to be an ordinary cell phone, authorities said.The suspicious device — a cell phone with wires sticking out — was first reported by a passerby about 1:10 p.m. at the park, at the corner of Via Verde and Puente Street, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Alex Vargas said.A sheriff’s Arson-Explosives robot was used to get a close look at the device, and it was found to be an ordinary cell phone with an external battery attached to it, sheriff’s Arson-Explosives Detective Jim Gonzales said.Officials picked up the phone and declared the situation safe about 3:45 p.m., Vargas said.

PASADENA — A local man waited until his girlfriend fell asleep before attacking her with a kitchen knife late Saturday, police said.Renson Trochez, 36, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Pasadena police Lt. Randell Taylor.His girlfriend, whom he lived with, was hospitalized with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, the lieutenant said.The incident occurred about 9:20 p.m. at a home in the 800 block of North Garfield Avenue, he said, after the couple had been involved in an argument.“She went to sleep, and he stabbed her in the neck twice,” Taylor said.Though the wounded woman was expected to survive, “she lost a lot of blood,” Taylor said.Trochez initially fled the scene, he added, but was arrested several hours later at a relatives house.According to court records, Trochez is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail. The date of his initial court appearance was not available Sunday.

PASADENA – A man was found dead inside a suspected residential care home after it caught fire Friday, authorities said. The blaze was reported shortly after 5:30 p.m. in the 600 block of Del Monte Street, Pasadena police Lt. Tom Delgado said. The house was well-involved with flames when firefighters arrived, and smoke could be seen from several blocks away, Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said. The body of a man was found inside the home, she said. The deceased was identified as 80-year-old Azariah Stoney, according to relatives and residents of the care home. Several of the residents said Stoney enjoyed smoking cigars. Frederick Wallace, who identified himself as a relative, said Stoney was a Jamaican immigrant and a professional painter. “He is from the old-school,” Wallace said. “He went to work every day at 8:10. At 80 years old, he went to work every morning even if he didn’t have work to do.” Brother Jaysee, a community activist who lives nearby, said he knew Stoney from being in the neighborhood. “He was a good man – a hard-working man – who was doing the best he can,” Jaysee said. “It is unfortunate.” Henry Butler, a resident of the home, said he saw smoke coming from Stoney’s room when the fire broke out. Butler said he grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran inside, but there was too much smoke. “I couldn’t see anything,” he said. The fire was put out in 20 minutes, according to Derderian. Damages to the home were estimated to be about $300,000, she said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. A 61-year-old man was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation but did not wish to be hospitalized, Derderian said. About 17 men lived in the residential care home and were displaced by the fire. The Red Cross was sent to help find them a place to stay, Derderian said.

GLENDORA — Three to four men wearing ski masks and hooded sweat shirts carried out a takeover robbery at a local bank Friday, authorities said.The robbery occurred about 5:40 p.m. at a Chase bank branch at 1905 E. Route 66, Glendora police Lt. Brian Summers said.After ordering about 20 customers and employees to the ground, the robbers took money from each teller, the lieutenant said.No weapons was scene, though the men motioned as if they had weapons hidden under their clothes, he added.A getaway car was found abandoned nearby at Glenkirk Presbyterian Church, 1700 Palopinto Ave., Summers said. It was determined to be a stolen car.The FBI is assisting Glendora police in the investigation.

PASADENA — A 34-year-old Monrovia who used the Internet to lure and molest teenage girls pleaded guilty Thursday to 20 counts of child molestation.Gregory Serrano, 34, of Monrovia is due back in Pasadena Superior Court on July 6, when he is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison, officials said.Serrano now awaits trial on 23 federal charges including production, possession and receipt of child pornography, using the Internet to entice minors to produce child pornography and meet for sex and destruction of evidence.“Upon initiating communication via the Internet, Serrano would phone and text message his victims and, ultimately, set up sexual encounters at his residence,” Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Shiara Dvila-Morales said in a written statement.The charges Serrano pled guilty to Thursday stemmed from crimes against three girls between 14 and 17 years old, Dvila-Morales said. He told the victims he was between 16 and 19 years old.Serrano pleaded guilty to all counts as charged, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Jane Robison said.He was jailed on March 12 of last year at his home after a 15-year-old girl told her parents Serrano had molested her, officials said.United States Attorney Joey Blanch, who is prosecuting the federal case against Serrano, said he used social networking Web sites such as MySpace.com and Netlog.com to meet the underage girls.Federally, Serrano is accused of crimes involving 10 underage girls throughout the state and even out-of-state that date back to 2006, she added.Blanch said because officials have found evidence of interactions with apparently underage girls who have not been identified on Serrano’s computer, there may be more victims who have not come forward.In addition to the sex crimes, the federal indictment also alleges that Serrano tried to have family members get rid of incriminating evidence for him.Following his arrest, Serrano allegedly asked family members to retrieve and hide a CD hidden inside an inline skate in his basement, according to U.S. Department of Justice officials. FBI agents got hold of the CD and determined it contained Though Serrano was indicted in May of last year, the federal proceedings are yet to begin, U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Thom Mrozek said.“He is yet to make a court appearance in our federal case,” he said. “We’ll proceed with our case following the conclusion of the state case.”A production of child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison, Blanch said.If convicted on all federal charges, she said, Serrano could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

PASADENA – A 34-year-old Monrovia man accused of using the Internet to lure teen girls for sex pleaded today, the District Attorney’s Office announced.

Deputy District Attorney Ilean Richard of the Pasadena Branch Office said Gregory Scott Serrano pleaded guilty to 20 counts before Judge Janice Croft. The charges involve three female victims ranging in age from 14 to 17.

Serrano pleaded to five counts of sodomy of a person under 16, four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, three counts of contact with a minor for sexual offense, three counts of oral copulation of a person under 16, two counts of oral copulation of a person under 18 and one count each of sodomy of a person under 18, meeting a minor for lewd purposes and lewd act upon a child.

The defendant is due to be sentenced on July 6 in Department H of Pasadena Superior Court. Serrano, who has a pending federal case involving child porn and other charges, is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Upon initiating communication via the Internet, Serrano would phone and text message his victims and, ultimately, set up sexual encounters at his residence. The defendant told the girls he was between 16 and 19 years old.

ROSEMEAD — Authorities released the name Thursday of a man who died after being found on the floor of a bathroom at a local psychiatric hospital.Kenneth Monroe, 38, of Murrieta died Wednesday morning after he was taken to Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park after he was found on the floor of a bathroom at Ingleside Hospital in Rosemead, 7500 Hellman Avenue, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner’s Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.He had recently been transferred to the Rosemead facility from another in Riverside County, Winter said.A cause of death was not determined Thursday, he said, and an autopsy had not yet been scheduled.Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau are investigating the death, though Lt. Gil Carrillo said the investigation is on hold pending the results of the autopsy.

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